ENHANCING PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS IN SIMPLE INTEREST AMONG GRADE 7 STUDENTS THROUGH THE INTER (IDENTIFY, NOTE, TRACK, EVALUATE, REVIEW) STRATEGY

This study examined the effectiveness of the INTER intervention in enhancing problem-solving skills in simple interest among Grade 7 learners. The INTER, a method used to improve problem-solving skills in simple interest, was implemented to address notable problem-solving difficulties observed among the students. The research objectives were to determine the level of problem-solving skills in simple interest among Grade 7 learners before and after implementing the INTER and to explore the impact of this intervention on their problem-solving skills. Prior to the intervention, students recorded an overall mean score of 36.44% in the pretest, indicating needs improvement in problem-solving involving simple interest. After implementing the intervention, the posttest results showed a significant improvement, with an overall mean score of 82.8%, suggesting a highly effective impact of INTER strategy on students’ learning outcomes. The data, as presented in the results table, reflect a marked difference in the performance of fifty-eight (58) students in problem-solving involving simple interest. This notable improvement demonstrates the effectiveness of the intervention in helping students build knowledge and understanding problem-solving more confidently. Initially, students struggled with these topics, showing limited understanding and skills. However, following the structured and supportive learning process offered by the INTER strategy, their performance improved considerably. These findings highlight the value of targeted instructional strategies in addressing specific learning gaps among students. Moreover, results showed that students performed better in the post-test than the pre-test, implying a significant difference between the two test scores, t(57) = 11.9, p<.001, with a standardized effect size of Cohen’s d = 1.57. Since the probability value (p<.001) is less than the level of significance (α = 0.05), the null hypothesis is rejected. The rejection is supported by having a standard deviation of 14.64 in pretest and 5.66 in post-test, indicating the reliability of the mean. This means that there is a significant difference between the pretest and post-test scores. In the qualitative phase, the researchers gained insights about the positive outcome of the intervention together with the challenges faced by the learners. The study concludes that scaffolding methods like INTER can significantly contribute to developing Grade 7 students’ problem-solving skills, making the complex topics more accessible and enhancing their problem-solving skills involving simple interest in real-life situations. Keywords: INTER, Intervention, Problem-Solving Skills, Simple Interest, Scaffolded, Philippines